We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Whitney Donohue a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Whitney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
What a journey it has been!! When I graduated medical school, I had a really good idea of how I wanted to practice. I spent much of my time outside of school learning specific modalities (not taught in school) that I wanted to be able to bring to people. All of which helped me personally heal, along the way of my own journey with chronic pain. With that, my vision was different. I saw the body differently, I saw healing differently and I saw a completely different approach from what most of the doctors in my field were doing. This put me in a position of having opportunities that I could squeeze into, I could make successful but ultimately at the end of the day, I would have been in a position to practice how someone else wanted me to practice and I knew from the start, that it was not a place I wanted to build from. So my only other option was to start my own practice. So I did. I had a vision and to see that through, I knew I had to do it myself. The most challenging part was listening to other people, still doing what I wanted but feeling like I had to fit into the box that was expected or of what everyone else wanted me to do or thought I should do. Taking some of that advice placed doubt into my greater vision and doubt in what I truly knew at my core, was the type of medicine I wanted to help people with. While most of it was with good intention, at the end of the day, it was not aligned and derailed me a bit through the years. However, I have always had the ability to come back into alignment and truly believe in myself and my medicine and what I have to offer and how I can best serve people. So my advice to young professionals is to create a clear vision of what you want and see it through. No one will believe in you as much as you believe in yourself. You might have to pivot along the way, growth and redirection are only natural in the process but staying the course on what you truly believe and envision will be the only thing that allows you to move forward and build the life and practice you desire.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I keep active women, active, energized and pain free with natural pain and mind-body solutions. I focus on energy and performance optimization so if you have pain and fatigue, Welcome to Quantum Body Optimization!!! I take a whole human approach, looking at the physical, chemical (nutrients or toxins) & emotional aspects of health, how your lifestyle & simply all aspects of being human are impacting and influencing you’re health. I look at the body as a whole, as no cell, organ, system, piece or part is imbalanced alone or heals alone. I focus on creating and restoring balance of the body and nervous system as a whole, to eliminate pain and symptoms of dis-ease instead of chasing all the symptoms as if they are separate. I simplify health and healing, empower my patients with knowledge and tools that need to get back into the drivers seat of their own health & ultimately their life.
I became a Naturopathic Doctor after suffering from chronic pain for years after an injury, with little to no resolve of what was offered in the conventional medical model. In my healing journey I started naturopathic medical school and was introduced to amazing modalities and doctors who helped me heal, specifically with Applied Kinesiology, Neuro Emotional Technique & Acupuncture. Anything that helped me heal, I spent my weekends learning the modalities, so I could help people heal as quickly and efficiently as I did. Through this I experienced healing on a different level, I learned so much about the body as a whole and what it takes to truly heal. This ultimately created the vision I have for my practice today. Everything I do in my is something I personally experienced immense healing with, therefore I provide a one stop shop to collapse time and expedite true healing for my patients.
What sets me apart is my approach to healing, that allows for deeper, more specific evaluation and treatment of your body through the nervous system. It fills the gaps between labs, imaging, health history and examinations, it puts the pieces of the body together like no other modality can offer. This makes for the most specific treatment and health plan you will ever experience. Less is more when it comes to healing, so healing the body by giving it what it needs the most when it needs it, is how the most profound healing happens.
What I offer is solutions to those who’s pain and symptoms don’t fit into a specific box or a specific diagnosis, or your labs are “normal” but you feel far from normal and no one else has solutions for you. Healing your body from the inside out, determining the root cause and building resiliency far beyond your symptoms is the health that we create here together.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I am continually unlearning is that to be successful you don’t have to drive yourself into the ground or sacrifice your entire life for it. Yes there are seasons, especially in growing and pivoting that require more time and energy, however it is a season, not the rest of your life. From personal experience learning when to push and when to let go, is always a balancing act but I found the more I pushed and sacrificed my health and life, less was accomplished. When I am able to take a step back and focus on my health and life and having more fun, my business always flourished in return. There is a strong energy exchange there that cannot be ignored and we often ignore it until it is too late. The healthier you are physically and mentally, the stronger and healthier your business/creativity will be.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The most effective way of growing my practice is being face to face with people. You have to connect with real humans on a genuine and authentic level. Business networking is not a transaction or an exchange of cards, it is a connection that must be nurtured. People are always better in person, you get to see who they truly are and from there, you get the best referrals and you also know the person they are coming from. In any event or opportunity that I meet someone who is a great connection on any level, I always invite them to coffee. I love to hear peoples stories, hear about what they really do, why they do it and how we can best serve each other’s clients/ communities. This weeds out things that are not a good fit or creates a really strong connection and network of like minded people. Approach people, events, etc from a place of connection instead of a transaction and see how much more you gain from it on multiple levels.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drwhitneydonohue.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drwhitneydonohuend/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drwhitneydonohuend
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-whitney-donohue-nd-b9b140133/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_60p_CsdJcnV5Ky-pzDeMw
Image Credits
Nylmar Rivera Martinez
Tor Hawley